Four Missionaries of Charity nuns dead in Yemen terror attack

Sister Ansel M. (57), Sister Margarita (44), Sister Reginette (32) and Sister Judith (41) were among the dead. Sister Ansel M. was from Gumla, Jharkhand.

Four nuns belonging to the Kolkata-based Missionaries of Charity were killed in a terror strike in the city of Aden, in Yemen, on Friday which the organisation has described as the worst act of violence it has suffered since it was founded by Mother Teresa, more than six decades ago.

“Three men entered the care giving home run by the Missionaries of Charity and fired at the gathering as they were preparing breakfast at 8:30 am. Four nuns died in the attack,” Sunita Kumar, Spokesperson of the Missionaries of Charity told The Hindu .

Ms. Kumar said that Sister Ansel M., 57, Sister Margarita, 44, Sister Reginette, 32 and Sister Judith 41, were part of a six-member team which ran the care home for the elderly in Aden and are among the dead.

Out of the four, Sister Ansel M. was Indian and belonged to Gumla, in Jharkhand and the other three hailed from Africa.

The priest of the care home, Father Tommy who hails from Bangalore, Ms. Kumar said, is missing whereas Sister Sally, the sixth member is hospitalised in Aden.

“The care home, its chapel and other artefacts were destroyed by the terrorists. Sister Sally saw the attackers and managed to save herself. We do not yet know what happened to Father Tommy,” Ms. Kumar said.

The Ministry of External Affairs told The Hindu that the Indian Embassy of Yemen which has relocated to Camp Djibouti due to the ongoing civil war in Yemen, is trying to ascertain the exact number of casualties in the attack which took place in the Sheikh Othman District in Aden.

Initial reports suggested that at least 16, including four nuns, died in the attack. In a late night update, the MEA identified the Indian nun who died in the attack as Cecilia Minj.

The Missionaries of Charity said it operates four care-giving homes in Yemen alone and had not given up operating in the country despite the civil war and the attacks by the Saudi forces. “The area has been cordoned off and the police are investigating the incident,” a press release from the relocated Embassy of India in Yemen informed.

The Missionaries of Charity said that it has always been helped by humanitarian consideration shown by the fighters in civil war-like conditions all over the world.

“We did not face such a casualty even in Beirut during the 1980s. What happened in Aden is really the worst violence against the nuns,” Ms. Kumar said.